Smarter than the average Bot
by Jasmine-N-Leaves
Summary: Or the Six times (there are six Avengers) Tony's Bots, U and DUMM-E, helped the Avengers and the one time they helped the Bots. Set after Avengers movie and before Iron Man 3. This is my first time writing in this way or for this category so I would love to hear what you think. Enjoy! (Rated T just in case my ideas get away from me) Former username Jasmine-Now-Leaves


A/N: So basically this story popped into my head and hasn't left me alone since. I love the movies and the characters and only have those to go on. I haven't read a single comic, but I know the general lore. I have managed to think of ideas for all the Avengers, Steve being the first. These are all set between Avengers and Iron Man 3. Enjoy!

A/N2: this is my first Avengers story, please R&R.

Bold-Italics are when the bots are talking to each other or to JARVIS. Plain Italics is when JARVIS to talking to the Avengers.

* * *

It started out with Steve in the kitchen. DUMM-E had trundled in to gather something for his creator to eat as he wasn't leaving the lab anytime soon, according to JARVIS. The super-soldier had something on the counter and he was trying to gently clean it. He had tears in his eyes.

 _ **JARVIS, what is happening?**_ DUMM-E may not have human emotions, he did however understand that tears meant something unpleasant had happened.

 _ **One of the cleaning-bots knocked over a vase of flowers and a photograph of the Captain and the Howling Commandos. The frame broke and water damaged the photograph. Captain Rogers is attempting to salvage it.**_

DUMM-E continued its way to the fridge to complete its task, all the while, its servers were working to create something that would help the Captain. The 'man out of time', as Tony called him occasionally, never really interacted with it and its brother U unless someone else was present, usually Tony or Bruce. Its servers had past startled reactions of being snuck up on from several members of the team so DUMM-E let out a 'chirp' as he got closer.

"Huh?!" Steve said as he looked up suddenly. He sighed as he saw DUMM-E. "What are you doing up here …?, uh, I can never tell the difference between you." He looked slightly uncomfortable talking to the robot.

" _This is DUMM-E, Captain and Sir has asked him to retrieve something for him to eat."_ JARVIS responded, his voice floating out of the wall beside DUMM-E. _"He was inquiring as to what you were doing."_

"Really?" The Captain looked over at the bot as DUMM-E nodded his mechanical arm up and down and twirled it around. He let out another 'chirp' and opened the fridge door. "Tony actually asked you get him something to eat while he has his head buried in the middle of some experiment?" The disbelief was clear in his voice.

DUMM-E paused a moment, and Steve got the impression of a kid caught red-handed doing something he shouldn't. After a moment he started to pull things out and with the Captain watching, made a sandwich.

" _Actually, DUMM-E is following Miss Potts' orders to Sir of getting enough to eat and sleep. While there is not much in the way of helping him get to sleep, unless it is on the bench, we can help him receive nourishment_." JARVIS answered the question. He hadn't even begun to fathom what had driven DUMM-E from the lab until he opened the door to the fridge. The bot hadn't answered his queries. He may have to inform Sir of a glitch in his programing.

"Huh." Steve said as he watched DUMM-E put together several rather impressive sandwiches, without making a mess, something he had heard the robots were renowned for doing. At one point, DUMM-E had gotten close to the photo and caught a glimpse at it before Steve pulled it away from him, clearly not wanting another robot near it. It was severely water damaged, and DUMM-E had a thought that it couldn't be salvaged.

 _ **JARVIS, how did The Captain get the photograph?**_ DUM-E asked.

 _ **That information is not in my servers, however I will ask.**_ _Captain, DUMM-E would like to know how you receive the photograph. I have no information stating that you had it on you when you were found._

Steve flinched at the mentioning of being found. It had only bee ten months since he 'woke up' as he called it, and he was still getting over the fact that just six months earlier he lead a team of superheros against an alien invasion. He wasn't sure he was up for robots asking him questions. But he answered anyway, as he saw that DUMM-E wasn't going anywhere until he did.

"One of the descendants of Dugan works for SHEILD. When he heard that I had woken up, he gave me the photo. Said that his grandfather would have wanted me to have it. He carried it everywhere, hence the foxing and the creases. It's one of maybe half a dozen photos that we took together." Steve then held the photo out carefully to DUMM-E to look at. DUMM-E gently touched it and made a sad, low 'chirp' sound. He looked at Steve and the Captain got the feeling he was saying sorry.

 _DUMM-E is sorry the cleaning-bot damaged you photograph._ JARVIS suddenly said as DUMM-E picked up the plate and headed back to the elevator.

"Uh? Thanks?" Steve replied uncertainly. He was about to head back to his room when he spotted the other plate that he hadn't notice DUMM-E prepare for him while he told his story. On it was a sandwich, neatly cut in half. He quickly looked up but all he could see were the elevator doors closing. Taking his plate, Steve went and sat in front of the wall to ceiling windows that faced the city.

JARVIS watched through the cameras DUMM-E's actions; they weren't programed into him, however, learning things from humans was. DUMM-E was putting what he had no doubt seen others do into practice. Looking over the bots code, he saw several things pop up that hadn't been there the night before during the last backup. Wondering what to make of it, he made a note to inform Sir of the things the bot was doing and how his coding was growing.

Later that night, after Pepper managed to convince Tony to come to bed and after their latest back-up, DUMM-E told U about the conversation that morning and what he planned to do. U agreed and locked the lab down. No human could get in. DUMM-E then connected the vents to one of the Avengers who had liked crawling around the vents to such a point that Tony had made them all slightly larger for him. He and U then worked on blocking the two hatches that were in the lab so no one could disturb them.

At this point, DUMM-E had no choice but to involve JARVIS. The AI had been looking on in slight worry, as nothing the bots were doing coincided with their programing. After listening to what DUMM-E had in mind, he looked through the SHIELD files and found the descendant the Captain had mentioned before. Now knowing what was planned, JARVIS willingly helped them when they needed it and promised not to tell Sir. Otherwise he left them too it.

Two days later, Steve saw an irate Tony walking across the lounge toward him. Wondering what he had done to incur the billionaire's wrath, Steve stood.

"What the hell did you do to my bots?" he growled by way of an explanation.

"Your bots? Tony I don't even go near them without you or Bruce around. You know they make me uncomfortable." Steve said, even as the memory of a couple of days before of talking to DUMM-E came to him.

Tony just grabbed him by the arm instead and hauled him toward the elevator. The only reason he was able to was because Steve was too startled to dig his heels in. A moment later they got out on the floor occupied by Tony's lab. The door leading to it had been blocked by what looked like a filing cabinet that was now shoved to the side. Above, Steve noticed a couple of sheets of metal had been screwed over a couple of vents, no doubt blocking Clint from coming in.

"What?" Steve was shocked by what the bots had done. They were Tony's creations, why would he think he had anything to do with their behavior.

Before either man could say anything further, JARVIS spoke up _Sir, Captain, if you head to the Captain's quarters, I believe you will have your answers. And Sir, might I suggest showing a little patience until all is explained._

The two men looked at each other a moment before turning and heading back to the elevator. Steve led the way to his room and saw an open door and what looked like pieces of robot just inside the room. Looking back at Tony, Steve cautiously entered his room. Inside he found DUMM-E holding what looked like his photo frame. He had managed to find a similar frame and after drying out the photo had placed it inside. "What…?" was all he got out of his mouth before DUMM-E opened his 'fingers' and dropped the frame.

"No!" Steve cried out as he spotted a puddle of water on the floor, under the frame. Before he could get to it however, it hit the floor. He froze, expecting to hear the shattering of glass and metal. Instead he heard a thud as the frame hit the floor. He looked at the object on the floor and saw it intact, whole and utterly undamaged.

He slowly went forward and picked it up as DUMM-E backed away. As he lifted it, it unfolded to reveal several more photos. He gasped as he recognised them.

The front photo, the one he thought had been damaged before by the cleaning bot, which he suspected was in pieces in front of his door, was intact, undamaged and looked surprisingly new.

The second was of just him and Bucky; standing side by side, arms around the other's shoulders, laughter on their faces as they joked about something at the bar the night he got the Howling Commandos together. He couldn't remember seeing anyone taking his photo that night and wondered how it had ended up here.

The third was of him and Peggy. It had to have been taken just before he left to start bringing down the HYDRA bases, as it showed the pair standing at a train station, looking at each other slightly awkwardly with the rest of the Commandos standing behind the fence, about to board the train. Her hand was on one of his arms and he was covering it with the other. He remembered it, she was telling him to be careful, something she had always done, and it made him feel safe. Again, he had no idea who took the photo.

The forth one was of the Avengers. Once Loki had been put on the helicarrier and was secure, Tony had convinced them all to stay at least one night under the same roof. If only because the media was in a frenzy, the city was in a mess and the rest of those on the helicarrier wanted nothing to do with Barton and Banner for the time being. Once they had come back to the damaged tower, Stark had insisted everyone stand for a minute in front of one of the two Loki shaped holes so that DUMM-E could take a photo. He couldn't remember what tony had said to make them all laugh (Natasha simply smiling more than usual), but it worked.

 _Sir, Captain Rogers, if I may offer an explanation? DUMM-E and U have spent the last several days creating the frame you now hold so that nothing happens to your treasured memories. It is made of the same material as the Hulk Proof room in the basement. In the event that the building is destroyed or the Hulk gets his hands on them, it will not be damaged in any way._ JARVIS suddenly spoke up, startling both men. Steve turned to the older man behind him, having forgotten he had followed him.

Tony had been standing behind Steve and was stunned when his bot deliberately dropped the photo. He was about to call for JARVIS to shut him down when the frame hadn't smashed. He looked on curiously as it opened up. His anger dissipated as he saw several photos fold out. When JARVIS offered his explanation, Tony smiled. He had always known his bot were smart, and while they weren't as intelligent as JARVIS, he knew they pretended to glitch and do random things to show they cared. When Steve turned to him, a question on his face about the new frame, he simply held his hands out and shook his head to say 'not my doing'. "JARVIS, did you by any chance help them? I know there was no way they got a hold of those old photos themselves."

 _Yes Sir. Once DUMM-E told me his plan, I contacted Dugan's grandson and enquired if he had any others. He sent several negatives which I had developed. There is also a collection of other photographs in a Photograph album in the top drawer of the bedside table that he also sent. It too is Hulk Proof. The key is on top.  
_

"And under who's name did you contact him by?" Tony asked. He was surprised by the slight pause before JARVIS answered. It didn't happen often, only when the AI knew that he would likely not like the answer.

 _You, Sir._

Tony simply nodded and, curling his finger at DUMM-E to come, left the room.

As DUMM-E trundled past the Captain, who by now had collapsed on the bed to finger his new frame, he grabbed the robots arm. "Thank you." He said modestly, not sure if the bot understood him. The bot in turn simply spun his 'fingers' and chirped, nodded twice and followed Tony out the door.

Steve then plunged into the drawer, unlocked the box and pulled out the album. The key was on a chain which he promptly put around his neck. It contained his entire life. Photos taken by his mother using a camera borrowed from the neighbour as well as those that some one seemed to have taken of him around London and other places in Europe. He flipped back to the front and saw a typed letter.

Captain Rogers,

the photos in this album are from a lot of people around the world. You gave them so much hope, courage and in many cases the ability to stand up a make a difference. It has taken me a long time to collect these.

When I first heard of you from my grandfather Dugan, I was in awe. The stories he told me about you were the stuff of legends and I loved every one of them. That was when I started to look for photos of you. Not phony ones of you doing your shows, real ones that people took of you and the Commandos while you were doing your job. With the introduction of the Internet it became easier. I never mentioned who I was other than descendant of one of the Commandos and I put the best ones together for you.

Grandfather always told me to stand up for the little guy, cause you never know when that little guy will become a big one. Whether literally in your case, or figuratively in the form of a wheelchair bound old high school best friend that is now one of the best lawyers in the state. I have always stood up for the little guy and will do what is right, and it is because of my grandfather, and you.

I know that photos can't make up for lost time, nor can they bring people back, but I hope they bring you pleasant memories that you can share with your new team.

Good luck Captain, and if you need someone to talk too about the old days, I would love to listen.

It was signed by a Roger Dugan, and under that were two addresses, one no doubt Dugan's, the other Steve recognised as a cemetery. Sighing, Steve gently folded and tucked the letter into one of the slots and slowly looked through the photos. Some of them had been well looked at, foxing on the edges, small creases here and there, while others looked like new, no doubt coming off the negatives. Next to some of the pictures were asterisks, and when Steve gently pulled one out and turned it over, he saw writing on the back.

It was in German and said, 'The captain saved our village from the Nazis' next to it was the name of the village and a date. When Steve slipped it back he looked at the photo closely and saw himself kneeling next to a small child, gently wiping a tear from the face. He remembered it. The village offered him and the team a night there after driving Red Skulls forces away. Steve continued to look through the photos for hours, reminiscing.

He knew that he had to do something in exchange for the bots, but for the life of him he had no idea what.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about switching between 'it' and 'him' for DUMM-E and U. Not sure which is better for them, please let me know what you prefer. Also the reason there is no butterfingers is because I think it is another nickname for whoever Tony is talking to at the time.


End file.
